


Closing Distance

by albinokittens300



Category: The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Katniss and Peeta's Life After Beginning To Heal, Minor Angst, Missing One Another, Newly Established Everlark, Slice of Life, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, pinning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-11-01
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27136477
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/albinokittens300/pseuds/albinokittens300
Summary: Peeta has to return to the Capitol. He and Katniss deal with the separation.
Relationships: Katniss Everdeen/Peeta Mellark
Comments: 10
Kudos: 47





	1. Part One

**Author's Note:**

> New fic I've been working on awhile. Basically the story is I wanted to write a Growing Back Together fic...and mashed a lot of my head canons together to get this! It is a bit all over the place I think, but very sweet and very ever lark, so I hope you all enjoy reading it. Because I know I loved writing it.
> 
> Theres 4 chapters, and all are written. Second chapter will be posted Sunday, and the third and fourth will be posted the Wednesday and Sunday after that :).

Katniss doesn’t think she’ll ever like trains.

To her, they always meant danger. Meant the Games, meant war and fighting and the Capitol. Bad things happened when she sees trains, and even with the rebellion being over for more than a year now, it still made her skin crawl to hear and see the giant metal machines. The metal might as well be a prison to her, the sound of the whistle reminding her of bombs. The only thing positive to ever happen on a train was her sharing a bed with Peeta on their Victors Tour.

Now, a train comes to take him away.

Not permanently, at least. The two of them were far past such worries. Katniss was confident that Peeta would make his way back to her so long as he could breathe. In this case, that didn’t help much; knowing he was boarding a train heading for the Capitol still causes her heart to speed up and palms to sweat.

Peeta’s head doctor insists he needs this. A thorough exam, at least once a year. It was planned since before he returned, and they both knew it was coming. But part of Katniss wants to stomp her feel like a toddler. Dig in her heels and shout at anyone who’d listen that I just got him back, we were just getting back to us! Why does he have to leave now? The fact that he would be returning in a week is all that is keeping her from acting out.

The train pulls up, and Peeta moves his hand away from hers and picks up his bag.

Katniss doesn’t let him get far without wrapping him in a tight embrace.

“I’ll be okay, Katniss. It’s just a week, you won’t even know I’m gone. Promise.” He tries to comfort her, but she can see right through it. Peeta would easily choose to stay in 12 if given a chance. The idea of returning to the Capitol was no more attractive to him than her.

It truly isn’t that she is afraid of him leaving- every day he goes to the bakery, she goes far into the forest. Not seeing one another for hours and hours some days. Even with how close they’ve gotten, it isn’t out of place. But the idea of him going back to the Capitol that almost took him from her, nearly destroyed her Peeta...it made her blood go cold.

Last time you were there without me, you were tortured. And I only just got you back, Katniss thinks.

“Just come home, okay?” She asks, burying herself closer into his arms.

Peeta gently pulls her away. Kissing her and resting his forehead on hers. “I promise. A week, and I’ll be back.”

She repeats his words again and again in her head as she watches him board the train.


	2. Part Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter! This one is, as one can imagine from a fic that started as just a bunch of ideas meshed together...is a little all over the place. But I think I got down what I wanted in a way I really like and that I hope you all enjoy as well! Please leave a Kudos or Comment if you see fit :)!

When she arrives home, Katniss curls up on the couch for an hour or so. Missing Peeta, wanting him here with her.  
After that, she pushes herself up. Convincing herself she’s had enough lost days, too many days spent on this beaten couch to allow another week to pass her by. When she rises, Katniss goes to the kitchen. Seeing her books, pencils, and notepad, Katniss settles down to do her homework.

School was a new and still slightly trying prospect. When she decided to study to earn a job with the conservation department working to protect the forest of District 12, the huntress never expected to actually have classes and assignments. It was more complicated than the work she had done in High School but thankfully was far from boring, and often turned out fascinating. And her degree would be worthwhile if it meant protecting the place that provided for her so long.

She did her reading, took notes, and finished her work. When she looked outside, it was almost dark, and her stomach demanded attention.

Starting a small pasta dish, she goes to get some basil out of the patch with their herbs. By the last light of the day, Katniss thinks tomorrow could be used to take care of some of the garden’s forgotten tasks. Some little weeds were beginning to come up, and there was watering to do.

It isn’t till after she ate and decided to go to sleep that she realized that night would be the hardest.

After some hours only getting rest in stops and starts, being woken by nightmare after nightmare, Katniss goes to the kitchen. For a while, she paces and slowly sips her water before grabbing his apron that hangs on the wall. Taking it back to bed with her and draping it over his pillow as she settles into her side of the bed—Buttercup taking his place at her feet.

With Peetas scent in her nose, the huntress is able to get some rest at last.

_____________

Peeta settles in his hotel. It’s early morning, and he got only a nap on the train. Looking out at the sunrise, he hopes Katniss is alright, that Buttercup is there cuddling her. That she finished her note-taking that she had been working on. He was so proud of her going back to school when she found a passion for doing so—all he wants her to be okay.

For a second, he considers calling her before realizing that it is late back home. Hopefully, Katniss is asleep.

A knock on the door comes, and his eyebrows raise. There are very few people he knows in the Capitol and none of whom he was expecting a visit from. Opening the door, he finds a smiling Effie Trinket.

“Peeta! Hello Dear, I heard you were here for your exams...thought I would come by for some support.” She says brightly, and Peeta can’t help but grin. Same Effie. They hug, and he takes a deep breath, happy to have some familiarity again.


	3. Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little late for this update, my apologies! Hope the fluff is enough to make up for it :). Peeta has a rough first day, Katniss gets to talk to him. Next chapter should be the last, and as is my inclination is is super adorable and sweet. 
> 
> Please enjoy! And leave a comment and kudos if you like, they are always appreciated.

He walks out of the office and takes a deep breath.

Day one was a simple mental exam, if a bit longer and tailored to him. It was draining, hours of questions about how his emotions control him, or how he controls his emotions. Asking about his strategies and coping. By the end of the day, he felt like he had been cut open and bared to the world, but they seemed satisfied with their information, and Peeta was glad when his doctor told him things seemed to be better for him.

The day ended with a nurse taking his blood for analysis and sending him back to his hotel. Though he was happy to see Effie in a car outside, he wanted to eat and then go to bed. Make the days go quicker.

“Did it go well?” She asks.

“Yea...as well as it could have.” He admits. Trying to calm himself after being so drilled and only succeeding a little. “Tomorrow I apparently will get put in a bunch of machines- head scan, electroactivity scanner. I can’t really understand.”

Effie gives him an apologetic smile. It’s always made her extremely guilty that people from the place she called home had hurt the three of them so severely, that in some why she was a part of it. The retired escort is beginning to forgive herself for it, but there was still some blame it is impossible not to put on herself, seeing Peeta’s haunted expression. An idea formed in her mind as she begins to pull off.

“Would you like to call her?” Effie asks, using one of the few things she knows can soothe Peeta.

“What?”

“Would you like to call Katniss? I’m sure she’d appreciate talking to you, and you could hear her voice.” Effie says, clearer this time.

Peeta’s eyes light up, and she feels proud.

_______________________________

“I’m glad things are going well, Peeta. So you should be coming home? As planned?”

“Doc seems happy with my improvement, so yes. I’ll be on the train home in a few days.” He says. “See, you can’t get rid of me that easily.” Peeta teases, and Katniss huffs a laugh. Gently petting Buttercups neck.

“I went on a hunt today and found some deer tracks. There could be a new herd in the area. Was thinking when you get back, maybe we could go on a camping trip before fall starts to come? I could get my coursework beforehand, spend a good week hunting, and we could enjoy the cabin for a while.” She says, hope trickling into her voice despite her effort to sound neutral. The end of summer was quickly approaching, and she wanted to go into the woods with Peeta at least one more time before it ends.

“That sounds like a good idea. We should go once I get home.” He says wistfully.

“It’ll be fun.” Katniss agrees excitedly. Thinking about just the two of them together in the cabin. Then she remembers something else. “I had lunch with Delly and Thorm today, and they are commissioning a few more buildings in town. She mentioned a bakery.”

Peeta gives a thrilling hum she can hear over the phone, and they get lost in plans for the future together. The last year had been dominated by keeping to themselves, but Peeta has been itching to reopen a bakery. For the small group of people who returned to District 12 to enjoy. The ones they’ve come to care for. It is bitter when they realize he should get some rest, but sweet looking forward to things, instead of the hollowness of missing one another.


	4. Part Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! This fic made me want to write more a lot. It was tempting to go off and explore Katniss going to school, or D12 rebuilding and Katniss and Peetas role in it. All sorts of stuff I now realize I am debating writing into their own fics if at all possible. That said, I hope this is good for now! Please comment and leave a kudos if you want, and enjoy :).

At the end of the week, Katniss comes in from the garden to meet Peeta at the train station. She is quick to change out of her soiled work clothes and put on something cleaner. Humming as she finishes by lacing her boots tightly and goes into the kitchen. Grabbing a few of her veggies from the harvest of the day and her keys.  
When stepping in to leave Haymitch his fresh food, he wakes up grumbling. “You ever heard of knocking?”

“I did knock.” She says, setting down the bag of carrots, cabbage, and basil on the table. “And I brought you food. Actual healthy food. Wouldn’t advise grouching at me.”

Haymitch responds with a dismissive huff. If he doesn’t put it up before tomorrow, Sae will make him a stew out of it. Out of all of them, Katniss is sure the older cook is the happiest about her and Peeta's attempt at gardening after the primroses did so well in the early spring. It’s small but done well for their first year trying to grow anything.

Her spirits stay lifted, thinking about seeing Peeta again. They’d talked before he left for the train. His time there seemed well spent, and Katniss was relieved. As well as being excited to tell him about her week. She is unconsciously bouncing on her feet when he climbs off the train and races to him. When barreled into, Peeta catches her after being knocked back a little and embraces her. He is as warm and loving as she remembers, and for a second, she relishes it.

___________________

They fall into their bed quickly once back home, leaving Peetas things packed in his suitcase. Preferring instead to curl up together. At first, just holding one another and getting used to the close, intimate embrace again before Katniss decides she’s earned some time in his arms after tolerating his absence as well as she did. Settling in by placing her head on his chest before the two of them drift off into sleep.

It is only the afternoon, but they go between fits of sleep and kissing or hold one another. Caressing and gently reminding themselves of one another again, even though it’s only been a week.

Plans to packing for their camping trip are put off, and neither of them leaves the bedroom till it begins to get late, and their bellies protest being neglected. Peeta heads to the kitchen and returns with two sandwiches and some strawberries with cream. A light dinner, but one Katniss eagerly begins to eat when he sets the tray down on the bed. Dining in peace, the comfortable silence continues.

Peeta, true to his nature, speaks first. Noticing something under him. Shifts till he pulls an apron out from under his leg.

“Was wondering where this went when I walked in. How’d this get up here?” He asks offhandedly, folding it and tossing it into the hamper at the end of the bed. But Katniss gets his attention when she can't stop blushing. “What?” He says, hiding a giggle in his voice while her cheeks redden.

“I..may have brought it in here to sleep.” She admits. Long since giving up the delusion of lying to him. “It smells like you, so I brought it back up here when I had nightmares. Made me feel like you were here.”

Peeta's response is to move the tray to the side and pull her into his lap. She goes with no resistance and relishes his kiss. Any embarrassment fades, and she realizes what he had meant so long ago about wanting to live in a moment forever. There was nothing she wouldn’t do to keep this feeling close.

“I missed you.”

“I missed you too,” Peeta says, kissing her forehead.


End file.
